Improvement in magazine fire-arms



G. W. BRIGGS. MAGAZINE FIRBARM.

Patented Oot. 16, 1866.

INVENTOR'.

GEORGE W.

BRIGGS, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR T() OLIVER F. VINCHESTER, OFSAME PLACE.

lMPROVEMENT IN MAGAZINE FIRE-ARMS.

Specication forming part of Letters Patent No. 58,937, dated October 16,1866.

To all whom it may concern:

Bc it known that l, GEORGE W. BRIGGS, of New Haven, in the county of NewHaven and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and usefulImprovement in Repeating Fire-Arms; and I do hereby declare thefollowing, when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings andthe letters of reference marked thereon, to be a full, clear, and exactdescription of the saine, and which said drawings constitute part ofthis specification, and represent, in

Figure 1, a side view; Fig. 2, a top View; Fig. 3, a sectional side viewwith the magazine closed; Fig. 4:, a longitudinal central section withthe magazine open; Fig. 5, a section through the frame on lineX Xlooking to the rear; Fig. 6, a section of the carrier-block on the saineline. Figs. 7, S, and 9 are detached views illustrating the operation ofthe magazine.

My invention relates to an improvement in the repeating lire-armspatented by Horace Smith and Daniel B. Tesson the 14th of February,1854; improved by B. T. Henry, patented October 16, 1860; in whichseveral metallic cartridges are placed in a tube or magazine beneath theVbarrel of the arm and carried therefrom to the barrel by the movenientof the trigger-guard; and my invention consists in an improvement in thesaid tube or magazine, whereby the cartridges may be placed therein withgreater facility and without other objections which exist to the tube asheretofore constructed.

Before proceeding to describe my improvement, I will first describe theconstruction of the operative parts of the arm.

A is the barrel, of any known construction; B, the frame, to the forwardend of which the barrel is secured, and to the rear end a wooden stock,C. In the frame B, and directly in the rear of the barrel, is formed achamber or mortise, D, in which is placed a carrier-block, E, the oiceof which is to receive a cartridge from the magazine and raise it forinsertion into the barrel; also to throw the discharged shell from thearm after it has been withdrawn from the barrel. For this purpose thesaid carrier-block E is constructed with a chamber,

E2, (see Fig. 6,) to receive the cartridge from the magazine, and it ismoved up within the chamber or mortise l) to present the cartridge tothe barrel for insertion, and down when the cartridge has been removedfrom the carrier to the barrel, and is thus moved by means ot' the leverF, one end of which lies within the carrier-block E, the other hung tothe pivot G.

H a lever, serving both as a trigger-guard and as au instrument by whichthe several mechanical parts of the arm are made to operate. lt is hungto the pivot G, upon which both the levers F and H may be freely moved.

By moving the lever H from the position denoted in Fig. 3 to thatdenoted in Fig. 1,a shoulder, u, formed upon the lever ll strikes acorresponding shoulder, b, upon the lever F, raising the said lever andcarrier-block lil, as d'enoted in Figl. By returning the said lever H,the ripper arm, I, of the lever Il strikes another shoulder, c, on thesaid lever F, and returns the lever F, with the carrier-block E, to theposition denoted in Fig. t

The breech-pin L is hollow, ot' cylindrical form, through which passes apiston, M. The rear end of the said pin L is formed, as seen in Figs. 3and 4, so as to 'attach upon either side to a pivot, d, a link, N, of atoggle'joint, as denoted in broken lines, Fig. L. The other links, P, ofthe toggle are hinged to the frame by a pivot, c, and the two linkshinged together at j'.

The upper arm, I, of the lever ll extends up between the twotoggle-joints, and through the said arm I a pin, g, passes, extendingout upon either side so as to enter a slot or groove, It, upon theinside of the links l), so that as the lever H is moved, as from theposition in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 4, the pin y will act to close thetoggle and draw back the breechpin L, which moves freely back and forthin the frame ll, as denoted in Fig. 4, and by the return of the lever Hwill extend the toggle and return the breech-pin L, as seen in Fig. 3.

The raising of the carrier-block lil, as before described, occurs afterthe breech-pin has been drawn back, and the breech-pin is returnedbefore the return of the carrier-block, passing through the chamber E2in the earrie1-block,ior the purpose (as more fully hereafter shown) ofremoving the cartridge from the chamber E2 in the carrier-block to thebarrel. Therefore, in order to allow the carrierblock to return, it isnecessary to cut a slot, E, from the chamber E2 up through thecarrier-block, as seen in Fig. (i. This slot must be narrower than thechamber in order to prevent the accidental removal of the cartridge inthe said chamber, as also to cause the raising of the carrier-block toeject the discharged and withdrawn shell; and that this narrow slot maypass down over the breech-pin, which is nearly the same diameter as thechamber in the carlieublock, the breech-pin is reduced upon its twosides, as secu in Figs. 2 and 3. On the lower side of the breech-pin Lis formed a projecting lip, i, and upon thc upper side a spl'ing-latch,m. A cartridge, lt, lying upon the carrier-block, as seen in Fig. 4,will, by the return of the breech-pin L, be. forced into the rear of thebarrel, the lip `1T entering a recess, n, below, and the. latch m,rising and hooking over the tlange of the cartridge, will enter asimilar recess, r, above, as seen in Fig. 3, so that when the breech-pinis withdrawn the latch m will hold and withdraw thc cartridge ordischarged shell, as the case may be.

rThe piston )l is enlarged to form a shoulder, as denoted at s, at therear of the pinV L; thence extends back through the frame, and so as toslide freely therein to the hammer S, so that when the pin is drawnback, as before described, the said piston will force the haulmer backto full -cock, as denoted in Fig. 4, and, on being returned to theposition denoted in Fig. 3, will leave the hammer held at fullcock bythe trigger T, which, when released in the usual manner, will, by thereaction ofthe mainspring U, ily back to theposition denoted in Fig. .3,striking the end ofthe piston M. To the inner end ol' thc piston M isfixed a collar, i, having proiecting points .r upon either side. (SeeFig. 5.) larger diameter than that part of the piston M to which it isattached, and the recess made in the breech-pin to receive the saidcollar is made a little deeper than the thickness of thc collar, so asto allow the piston M, with the collar f, to move back, so that when thepin L is forced up against the cartridge, as before described, theprojecting points a', as they press againstthe cartridge,will force thepiston back, and thus situated, when the hammer strikes the piston M, asbefore described, the pro- `iecting points .1' will indent the metal ofthe cartridge. suilieicntly to explode the fuhninate and ignite thepowder within the cartridge.

A separate spring, c, for eacll of the levers F and ll is secured uponthe frame, the ends of which bear, one upon the lever H, as seen in Fig.3, to retain the lever in its home posi tion, as in Figs. l and 3, thcother upon the lever F, (sec Fig. 4,) for the purposes more fullyhereafter described. The lever H is held in its position against theframe by means of a thumb-screw, 'W, or an equivalent therefor.

The said collar t is oi' This completes the general construction of thatpart ofthe arm contained within the frame as heretofore constructed.

The space in the frame where the operative parts are placed is inclosedby a plate, S3, upon each side of the frame.

In the magazine as originally constructed, and as shown and described inthe patent ot' Smith and Wesson before referred to, the magazine or tubewas fixed to the barrel, and a slot cut through the entire length of thetube, through which a pin or projection from the follower within thetube extended, by means of which the follower was drawn up to near themuzzle end of the said tube, where the follower, with the spring and theupper portion of the tube, were turned to one side, so as to allow thecartridges to be inserted within the tube; then the upper portion of thetube, with the follower and spring, were returned, so that the followerwould again enter the tube and force the cartridge toward thc rear orlower end of the tube into the carrier, for the purpose hereinbcforedescribed.

In this construction a great objection has existed from the fact thatthe. open slot upon the under side of the tube would admit more or lessdirt, or other substances foreign and injurious to the proper workingsof the follower and spring, within the magazine, and the necessarycomplication in the construction ofthe upper part of the magazine andbarrel reuders them very liable to get out of repair.

I will now proceed to describe my improvements, for which l seek LettersPatent.

I construct a tube, A', nearly or quite the length of the barrel, to beplaced beneath the barrel, as seen in Figs. 1, 3, and 4, secured to thebarrel by bands B Bf, and so as to move freely in the said bands to orfrom the frame, as from the position in Fig. 3 to that in Fig. 4. Thelower or rear end of the tube I make thicker than the portion above, forthe purpose of forming a shoulder, a', to rest upon the frame, also toform a guide, c', which moves within a groove, d', on the under side ofthe barrel, which stops the tube from being withdrawn farther than isnecessary for the insertion of cartridges. (See Fig. 4.) W'ithin thesaid tube A', 1 place a follower, (i, and upon it a lielical spring,(denoted in red,) closing the upper cud of the tube by a plug, D. A thinledge around the inside of the tube at its lower or rear cud preventsthe follower from being forced from the tube by the pressure of thcspring thereon. [n one side of the enlarged portion ot' the tube I placea springlatch, E4, which hooks onto the frame, as denoted in Figs. l and7.

To till the tube or magazine A with car tridgcs, release the tube fromthe frame by pressing the latch down, as denoted in Fig. 8, slide thctube forward, as denoted in Fig. 4, and insert the cartridges one uponanother, as in Fig. 9, forcing the follower into the tube until the tubeis filled or the requisite number placed therein; then return the tubeor niagazine to the position denoted in Figs. 1, 3, and 7. The springwithin the tube A will force the column ot' cartridges down until thelast one, R, inserted will enter the chamber E2 in the carrier-block E,(see Fig. 3,) from which position it will be carried up to the positionin Fig. 4 and inserted into thc barrel, and the block returned toreceive a second cartridge, as before described.

When the rst cartridgehas been discharged, as in Fig. 3, withdraw theshell, as before described. The latch m upon the breech-pin will holdthe discharged shell until the carrierblock is again raised, when theblock will strike the shell, tip it up from the lip t' until the carrieris nearly up toits full height, when the spring z will fall into anotch, fw, on the lever F, giving a sudden movement to the carrier,which will. eject the discharged shell entirely from the arm, as denotedin Fig. 4; and thus the operation of' tiring may be continued until allthe cartridges within the magazine have been each in their turndischarged.

1n tllin g the magazine with cartridges, a notch, j", upon the underside of the latch catches upon the cartridges, as seen in Fig. 9,

to prevent the cartridges from being accidentally forced out; but whenthe latch is raised to lock upon the frame, as seen in Fig. 8, the notchf will be so far above the cartridges as to allow them to move freelyover it.

Should it be desirable to move the tube or magazine from the frame whilethe cartridges are placed therein, it would bc necessary to hold thecartridges to move with the tube. For this purpose I place a pin, a',through the latch E4, its upper end or head serving as a button or knobupon which to press the latch to release the tube from the frame.

The pin n is of suiicient length, so that when pressed down, as in Fig.S, it will stop the cartridge from being forced out by the spring withinthe tube, and when removed from the frame and the pressure upon thelatch removed the notch f will catch und hold the cartridge, as beforedescribed.

By my improvement, thus fully described, the tube or magazine is a closecylinder, and so simple in construction that the objections to theoriginal tube as herein referred to are entirely overcome.

Having therefore fully described my invention, what l claim as new anduseful, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Constructing and arranging the tube or magazine, in combination with thcbarrel of' the arm and the carrier-block, so as to be operatedsubstantially as and for the purpose specified.

GEORGE W'. BRIG iS.

Witnesses:

JOHN E. EARLE, M. A. HINE.

